Seeking to claim their third successive Premier League victory, Newcastle United will welcome Aston Villa to St James' Park on Sunday afternoon.
The visitors, meanwhile, have won just one of their last five top-flight matches and will be looking to return to winning ways after Wednesday's thrilling draw against Leeds United.
Match preview
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For the first time this season, Newcastle claimed back-to-back Premier League victories after their slender 1-0 win at Leeds was followed by a 3-1 success at home to Everton on Tuesday night.
An unfortunate own goal from captain Jamaal Lascelles put the Toffees in front nine minutes before the break; however, just three minutes later, the centre-back was involved at the right end of the pitch as his header cannoned off the crossbar before Mason Holgate put the ball into his own net.
The ascendency was then with the Magpies and they managed to put themselves in front when man-of-the-match Allan Saint-Maximin picked out Ryan Fraser, who bundled the ball home from close range. In the final 10 minutes, Kieran Trippier scored his first goal in black and white colours with a brilliant free kick to secure three crucial points in front of a jubilant St James' Park.
Newcastle have now accumulated eight points from their last 12 available and this much-needed run of form has helped them climb out of the relegation zone for the first time since the beginning of October. Just one point separates them from 18th-placed Norwich City but they do have a game in hand.
Eddie Howe still faces a challenging task as they bid to avoid Championship football next season, but the addition of five new signings in January and an upturn in form has come at the right time as they prepare for their final 14 games of the season.
With fixtures against eight of the current top 10 still to come this campaign, Sunday's home encounter with Aston Villa is perhaps one from which Newcastle will fancy their chances of claiming another three points. Victory against the West Midlands outfit would see them secure three consecutive league victories for the first time since November 2018.
The Magpies are unbeaten in their last 12 Premier League home games against Aston Villa, a run which dates back to April 2005; however, each of the last three top-flight meetings at St James' Park have ended as 1-1 draws.
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Aston Villa were unable to match Newcastle with back-to-back league victories after letting a two-goal lead slip against Leeds in an enthralling 3-3 draw on Wednesday night.
A ninth-minute opener from Daniel James was cancelled out on the half-hour mark by Philippe Coutinho, before the Brazilian set up two goals for Jacob Ramsey to put the hosts in front.
James then netted his second in first-half stoppage time to give the visitors hope going into the break, before Diego Llorente hammered in a 63rd-minute equaliser from close range. The action-packed encounter finished with Ezri Konsa receiving a red card three minutes from time for a second bookable offence.
Steven Gerrard's men have slipped out of the top half and down to 11th place following just their third league draw of the campaign, and they now sit nine points behind the top seven.
While Aston Villa have had no problems in finding the net this season – with only Liverpool failing to score in fewer Premier League games than the Villans (three) – Gerrard will have concerns about his team's defensive frailties, having kept only two clean sheets in their last 10 top-flight matches, and conceding at least twice in four of their last five games.
Before Gerrard's appointment, however, Villa did keep out Newcastle earlier this season when they claimed a 2-0 win on home soil back in August last year, thanks to strikes from Danny Ings and Anwar El Ghazi.
Villa, who are unbeaten in their last seven Premier League games against the Magpies, will be looking to do the double over Sunday's opponents for just the second time in the Premier League, previously doing so in 2004-05 under former boss David O'Leary.
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Team News
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Eddie Howe has confirmed that Trippier will face a late fitness test after the right-back went off with a calf injury in midweek. Javier Manquillo could therefore be handed a start if the Englishman is unable to recover in time.
Newcastle will also be without Callum Wilson, Matt Ritchie, Isaac Hayden, Ciaran Clark, Paul Dummett and Federico Fernandez due to injury, but the latter two are closing in on a return to first-team training.
Villa loanee Matt Targett is ineligible to face his parent club, so Dan Burn is expected to be handed his debut at left-back, with Lascelles and Fabian Schar to continue in the heart of the defence.
Howe has also revealed that big-money signing Bruno Guimaraes is ready to play this weekend, with the Brazilian set to start in centre-midfield ahead of either Joe Willock, Jonjo Shelvey or Joelinton.
As for Aston Villa, Calum Chambers could be handed his first start for the club at the expense of the suspended Ezri Konsa, partnering Tyrone Mings at centre-back.
Otherwise, Gerrard is unlikely to make too many changes to his starting lineup, with midfield trio Ramsey, Douglas Luiz and John McGinn set to retain their places, as are attacking front three Coutinho, Emiliano Buendia and Ollie Watkins.
Marvelous Nakamba remains sidelined with a long-term knee injury, but Leon Bailey has returned to training and could feature this weekend, while Bertrand Traore may also be in contention after returning from international duty with Burkina Faso.
Newcastle United possible starting lineup:
Dubravka; Trippier, Lascelles, Schar, Burn; Guimaraes, Shelvey, Joelinton; Fraser, Wood, Saint-Maximin
Aston Villa possible starting lineup:
Martinez; Cash, Chambers, Mings, Digne; McGinn, Luiz, Ramsey; Buendia, Watkins, Coutinho
We say: Newcastle United 2-2 Aston Villa
Aston Villa secured a routine win in the reverse fixture against Newcastle earlier this season, but they are set to face a different proposition on Sunday and could be in for a challenging afternoon in the North-East.
Confidence is beginning to grow within the Magpies camp and although they will be desperate to claim another three points here, an entertaining score draw could be on the cards.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Aston Villa win with a probability of 37.78%. A win for Newcastle United had a probability of 34.54% and a draw had a probability of 27.7%.
The most likely scoreline for an Aston Villa win was 0-1 with a probability of 11.22%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (8.04%) and 0-2 (6.91%). The likeliest Newcastle United win was 1-0 (10.61%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (13.06%). The actual scoreline of 1-0 was predicted with a 10.6% likelihood.
